Russian Aircraft @ Groom Lake?

On Monday, April 7th, 2003 "Ian" an avid watcher of the skies around Nellis/Groom Lake (Area 51) spotted Russian aircraft flying into Groom Lake. His video stills are below:

SU-27 in banked turn, flying towards Groom Lake


Mig-29 and Gulfstream G2 (or Yak-40) flying into Groom Lake-
Call signs were as follows: MiG-29 'Cowboy 18' and G2 'Cowboy 03'


Second shot of Mig-29 and G2 (or Yak-40) flying into Groom Lake


Special thanks to Fulcrum and Seekerof for ID on Mig.
Comments welcome~

first pic: i cant see # exept a blimp...
it looks like no aircraft...
how can you tell its a su-27...

second pic:
you can prove it that its a mig-29
its to fuzzy and it can be many other aircrafts...

three pic:
look the same as second...
aslo cant prove it to be a mig-29...

Groom lake does have russian aircraft, which they some how got a hold of during the cold war. They have been flying migs around Groom lake since the late 70s early 80s, but i don't know why they would be interested in russian aircraft now.

Originally posted by infinite
Groom lake does have russian aircraft

where is your proof...

i need proof to believe this...

It is known that both USAF and Luftwaffe have flown MiG-29s in US airspace..
(Luftwaffe has been the 'bad guys' in Red Flags.. etc..)

US has some 20-30+ MiG-29s in its inventory, most bought from Moldovia.

So this could well be..

And if they are in US, i doubt that this 'business jet' is a Yak-40..

Its more likely to be Learjet or Gulfstream.
(more likely the later..)



And about the Fighter jets on these pics.

In 2. and 3. its MiG-29.

But in the first it could as well be a F-15.
(Its too fuzzy, hard to tell..)

Nice find!

Originally posted by FULCRUM

In 2. and 3. its MiG-29.

But in the first it could as well be a F-15.
(Its too fuzzy, hard to tell..)

it can be f-15s in both...

its to fuzz to say anything...

EDITED* due to Russian playing nicey nice.



I'm working on a visual ident of the other plane mentioned.
I'm not as technical as intelgurl, fulcrum, or seekerof...but I can do graphics. Which some people evidently need.

[Edited on 12-16-2003 by darklanser]

Not sure about the first pick, but the 2nd and 3rd (if I had to guess - being ex-Navy Intel) look like a MiG-29 to me. Two reasons why:

1. The aircraft appears to have extended leading wing edges/root/chines that extend along the forward fuselage under the canopy. The F-15 does not have this feature (although the F-18 does).

2. There is a fair amout of separation between the engines/nozzles. The MiG-29 was designed this way to be better able to absorb battle damage (less chance of losing both engines due to a single hit). Both the F-18 and F-18 have engines/nozzles that are closer together.

MiG-29's are available on the world market for the right amount of cash, and as was previously stated the USAF has defenitely obtained flyable copies.

The Su-27 or it's derivatives, however, would be a completely different story..................probably a very classified one at that......


Nice job, Intelgurl!

Look at the tail of this aircraft..
(in Intelgirls pics 2. and 3.)

Now compare to these:

MiG-29 #1

MiG-29 #2

MiG-29 #3

There is no doubt.



And here:


Lufwaffe MiG-29s at Red Flag Exercise, Nellis AFB, November 5, 1999.



[Edited on 16-12-2003 by FULCRUM]

Originally posted by Pyros

MiG-29's are available on the world market for the right amount of cash, and as was previously stated the USAF has defenitely obtained flyable copies.

The Su-27 or it's derivatives, however, would be a completely different story..................probably a very classified one at that......

Nice job, Intelgurl!

Pyros,

US has bought about 30 MiG-29s from Moldova..
and has also captured a number..
and has those also available from 'frienlies'.



And Su-27(s) US bought from Belarus.

ok ok it a mig...

its a mig...

but the first one cant be proven...

also i believe its a mig cause i found some German MIG-29s...

so if Germans have them then so deos US...

The second (larger) plane is most likely the G2. A Yak-40 has more straighter wings and stabilizers (?).



The plane in the picture has swept back wings and stabilizers.

Originally posted by Russian

also i believe its a mig cause i found some German MIG-29s...

so if Germans have them then so deos US...

German MiG-29s were at first DDRs MiG-29s..
(DDR = Communist East Germany..)

Then Germanys united..

Youll figure the rest out..



Now Germany has/or will soon donate those MiG-29 to Poland at token price of one (or 5, i cant remember..) Euros..

All 20-23 of them..

darklanser...

nice find...


so the second one is not a Russian aircraft...

or maybe another one...

Originally posted by FULCRUM




Now Germany has/or will soon donate those MiG-29 to Poland at token price of one (or 5, i cant remember..) Euros..

All 20-23 of them..

cant they donate them to me!!!

BTW, the following link describes in detail the civilian aircraft in the photos. I can personally vouch for the accuracy of the description of this aircraft (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, saynomore!).





G2 Aircraft

I know why the luftwaffe donates the Migs.. becaus they are all export versions of the MiG-29A, which is inferior to the MiG-29 version currently used in Russia.
Still its a nice plane.. I wish I could have one

that website might have been made by a person who didnt know anything about these aircrafts either....

Gulfstream II, so i was right about even that as soon as i learned that these pics were taken in US.

Originally posted by FULCRUM
And if they are in US, i doubt that this 'business jet' is a Yak-40..

Its more likely to be Learjet or Gulfstream.
(more likely the later..)

Damn im good..

But im supposed to know these things so..

Originally posted by Russian
that website might have been made by a person who didnt know anything about these aircrafts either....

Get a grip.

Mystery solved.